SAMPLE: Code Modifies the Font Common Dialog Box

 Last reviewed: February 15, 1996
Article ID: Q85431
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows version 3.1

SUMMARY

MULTFONT is a file in the Microsoft Software Library that demonstrates how an application can modify the ChooseFont() common dialog box to allow the user to select more than one font simultaneously. The standard Font dialog box only facilitates selecting one font; to choose more than one font, the user must interact with the dialog box multiple times.

Download MULTFONT.EXE, a self-extracting file, from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services:

  • Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) 

          Dial (206) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL
      Download MULTFONT.EXE (size: 33352 bytes)
  • Internet (anonymous FTP) 

          ftp ftp.microsoft.com
      Change to the \SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory
      Get MULTFONT.EXE (size: 33352 bytes)

MORE INFORMATION

This article discusses techniques that are useful in applications that allow the user to specify different fonts for different areas of the application. MULTFONT displays information about an individual: name, occupation, and social security number. For each line of information, the user can use the Font dialog box to specify a different font for each line.

MULTFONT uses a custom dialog box template and a hook function in conjunction with the Font dialog box. The template extends the Font dialog box with a list box. The entries in the list box list the name of each data element (name, occupation, and social security number). When the user selects a font and chooses the Apply button, MULTFONT stores the font face name, style, and point size in the list box. The text is stored outside the list box's visible area.

For example, suppose the user selects the Name entry in the list box, selects the Arial font, Bold style, size 10 points, and then chooses the Apply button. The contents of the Name entry in the list box is updated as follows: 

       Select font for:
     -------------------
     |Name             | :Arial,Bold,10,
     |Occupation       | :Script,Normal,12,
     |SS_Number        | :Terminal,Normal,10,
     |                 |
     -------------------
An advantage of storing this information in the list box is that the application can update the currently displayed font when the selection changes. In the example above, if the user selects Occupation, the fields of the Font dialog box should display the Script font. To obtain this behavior, MULTFONT installs a hook function to process the LBN_SELCHANGE message. When it receives an LBN_SELCHANGE message, MULTFONT performs the following processing:

  1. Parses the font information in the list box.

  2. Simulates the corresponding selections of the Font, Font Style, and Size.

This processing updates the Font dialog box to display the font associated with the currently selected field. For more information, see the MAINWND.C file in the MULTFONT sample.

Additional reference words: 3.10 softlib MULTFONT.EXE
KBCategory: kbprg kbfile
KBSubcategory: UsrCmnDlg

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Last reviewed: February 15, 1996
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